Rising NPR program costs send WMUK's fund-raising goal climbing

Oct. 14, 1999

KALAMAZOO -- Soaring costs for National Public Radio programs
are forcing Western Michigan University radio station WMUK-FM
to ask for more money in this year's fall fundraiser.

This year's goal is $220,000, up $20,000 from the $200,000
goal the station has had the past two years. The 10 percent increase
comes after NPR programming costs jumped 15 percent above last
year's figures.

On-air phone pledging for the drive is set for Oct. 16-22.
As in the past, the station is collecting mail-in pledges ahead
of time in hopes of reducing the length of the on-air campaign.

"We would have been glad to keep the goal where it has
been," says Floyd Pientka, station program director, "but
we had to pick up the slack to give people the programming they
want." Pientka says NPR has changed its pricing structure,
resulting in added costs for the station. Programming costs used
to be assessed based on the size of the market WMUK serves, which
is one of the smallest markets in the nation.

NPR now is assessing costs based on how many listeners stations
actually have and the radio network has become very adept at measuring
that number. In particular, the popular program "Car Talk"
has become very expensive, Pientka says. The program still costs
less overall than "Morning Edition" or "All Things
Considered." But it only airs one hour a week, compared to
four hours each weekday for "Morning Edition" and two
hours each weekday plus two hours each weekend for "All Things
Considered."

The result is that "Car Talk" costs nearly three
times as much per hour as "Morning Edition" and accounts
for 47 percent of the station's non-news program budget.

Mail-in pledges typically account for about 50 percent of money
raised in the station's fund drives and already have begun coming
in for the fall drive. "We're hoping for strong mail-in pledging
because we're going to need it," Pientka says. "We have
one week scheduled for phone pledging, but it will stop once we
reach the goal."